Method, apparatus and system for controlling routing information advertising

ABSTRACT

The application disclose a method, an apparatus and a system for controlling routing information advertising, which relates to the field of communications and is used for reducing the configuration complexity and reinforcing the operability. The method includes: receiving, by a control device, first routing information sent by a first forwarding device; wherein the first routing information includes an identifier of the first forwarding device; determining a first routing path according to the identifier of the first forwarding device, an identifier of a second forwarding device and a routing path group; and determining an advertising range of second routing information for the second forwarding device according to the first routing path; for enabling the second forwarding device to advertise the second routing information according to the advertising range of the second routing information.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/939,971, filed on Nov. 12, 2015, which is a continuation ofInternational Patent Application No. PCT/CN2014/077110, filed on May 9,2014. The International Application claims priority to Chinese PatentApplication No. 201310180233.X, filed on May 15, 2013. All of theaforementioned patent applications are hereby incorporated by referencein their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application relates to the field of communications, andparticularly, to a method, an apparatus and a system for controllingrouting information advertising.

BACKGROUND

An autonomous system (Autonomous System, referred to as AS) includesmultiple routers (clients) and a reflection router, a router located atthe periphery (edge) of the AS may be called an edge router, and theedge router in one AS may exchange routing information with edge routersin other ASs. The relationship between two edge routers which mayexchange the routing information and respectively belongs to differentASs may be called an external neighbor relationship.

With the rapid development of network technology and the continuousgrowth of user needs, cases of mutual access between different ASs aremore and more popular. With the service growth, a flow outlet of one ASaccessing another AS needs to be dynamically adjusted. With AS1accessing AS2 as an example, in general, a multi-exist-discriminator(Multi-exit-discriminator, referred to as MED) advertised by the AS2 tothe AS1 is dynamically adjusted to enable an edge router of the AS1 todynamically adjust a routing result, so as to adjust the flow outlet.

Specifically, an interior gateway protocol path weight (IGP Metric)between the routers in the AS2 is set in a reflection router accordingto an expected flow model, and the IGP is an abbreviation of an interiorgateway protocol path weight (Interior Gateway Protocol); whenadvertising the routing information to other routers in the AS2, thereflection router carries the path weight; an edge router in the AS2advertises the routing information to the edge router in the AS1 havingan external neighbor relationship with the edge router in the AS2; whena certain edge router in the AS1 has an external neighbor relationshipwith at least two edge routers in the AS2, the edge router uses the pathweight as MED and determines the routing result according to the MED, soas to adjust the flow outlet according to the expected flow model.

In the solution of dynamically adjusting the MED advertised by the AS2to the AS1 to adjust the flow outlet, multiple routers need tocooperatively configure the path weight, so that the configuration iscomplicated and the user operability is poor.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present application provide a method, an apparatusand a system for controlling routing information advertising, which isused for reducing the configuration complexity and reinforcing theoperability.

To fulfill the above-mentioned objectives, the embodiments of thepresent application adopt the following technical solutions:

In a first aspect, a method for controlling routing informationadvertising is provided, comprising:

receiving, by a control device, first routing information sent by afirst forwarding device, wherein the first routing information comprisesan identifier of the first forwarding device;

determining a first routing path according to the identifier of thefirst forwarding device, an identifier of a second forwarding device anda routing path group; and

determining an advertising range of second routing information for thesecond forwarding device according to the first routing path; whereinthe second routing information is routing information generated by thecontrol device according to the first routing information, the secondforwarding device is a receiver of the second routing informationadvertised by the control device, and the advertising range of thesecond routing information comprises an identifier of an externalneighbor of the second forwarding device, for enabling the secondforwarding device to advertise the second routing information accordingto the advertising range of the second routing information.

In combination with the first aspect, in a first possible implementationmanner, the determining an advertising range of second routinginformation for the second forwarding device according to the firstrouting path, comprises:

taking the identifier of the external neighbor of the second forwardingdevice comprised in the first routing path as the advertising range ofthe second routing information for the second forwarding device.

In combination with the first aspect or the first possibleimplementation manner of the first aspect, in a second possibleimplementation manner, determining a first routing path according to theidentifier of the first forwarding device, an identifier of a secondforwarding device and a routing path group, comprises:

selecting a routing path comprising the identifier of the firstforwarding device and the identifier of the second forwarding devicefrom the routing path group to serve as the first routing path.

In combination with the first aspect, in a third possible implementationmanner, before the determining a first routing path according to theidentifier of the first forwarding device, an identifier of a secondforwarding device and a routing path group, the method furthercomprises:

obtaining an internal network topology and an external network topologyfor the second forwarding device within a preset range;

generating the internal network topology and the external networktopology for the second forwarding device into a whole network topologyfor the second forwarding device;

determining the routing path group according to the whole networktopology for the second forwarding device.

In combination with the third possible implementation manner of thefirst aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner, the obtainingan external network topology for the second forwarding device within apreset range, comprises:

obtaining the external network topology for the second forwarding devicestored by itself;

or, receiving the external network topology for the second forwardingdevice sent by the second forwarding device.

In combination with the fourth possible implementation manner of thefirst aspect, in a fifth possible implementation manner, the obtainingthe external network topology for the second forwarding device stored byitself, comprises:

obtaining the external network topology for the second forwarding devicestored by itself through a graphic user interface GUI or a command line.

In a second aspect, a method for controlling routing informationadvertising is provided, comprising:

receiving, by a second forwarding device, second routing informationsent by a control device; wherein the second routing informationcomprises an advertising range of the second routing information, andthe advertising range of the second routing information comprises anidentifier of an external neighbor of the second forwarding device; and

controlling the advertising of the second routing information accordingto the advertising range of the second routing information.

In combination with the second aspect, in a first possibleimplementation manner, the controlling the advertising of the secondrouting information according to the advertising range of the secondrouting information, comprises:

advertising the second routing information to the external neighbor ofthe second forwarding device corresponding to the advertising range ofthe second routing information.

In combination with the second aspect or the first possibleimplementation manner of the second aspect, in a second possibleimplementation manner, before the receiving, by a second forwardingdevice, second routing information sent by a control device, the methodfurther comprises:

sending a network topology for the second forwarding device to thecontrol device, for enabling the control device to generate the secondrouting information at least according to first routing information sentby a first forwarding device and the network topology for the secondforwarding device.

In a third aspect, an apparatus for controlling routing informationadvertising is provided, comprising:

a receiving unit, configured to receive first routing information sentby a first forwarding device, wherein the first routing informationcomprises an identifier of the first forwarding device;

a routing path determining unit, configured to determine a first routingpath according to the identifier of the first forwarding devicetransmitted by the receiving unit, an identifier of a second forwardingdevice and a routing path group; and

an advertising range determining unit, configured to determine anadvertising range of second routing information for the secondforwarding device according to the first routing path transmitted by therouting path determining unit; wherein the second routing information isrouting information generated by the apparatus according to the firstrouting information, the second forwarding device is a receiver of thesecond routing information advertised by the apparatus, and theadvertising range of the second routing information comprises anidentifier of an external neighbor of the second forwarding device; forenabling the second forwarding device to advertise the second routinginformation according to the advertising range of the second routinginformation.

In combination with the third aspect, in a first possible implementationmanner, the advertising range determining unit is specificallyconfigured to take the identifier of the external neighbor of the secondforwarding device comprised in the first routing path as the advertisingrange of second routing information for the second forwarding device.

In combination with the third aspect or the first possibleimplementation manner of the third aspect, in a second possibleimplementation manner, the routing path determining unit is specificallyconfigured to select a routing path comprising the identifier of thefirst forwarding device and the identifier of the second forwardingdevice from the routing path group to serve as the first routing path.

In combination with the third aspect, in a third possible implementationmanner, the apparatus further comprising:

a network topology obtaining unit, configured to obtain an internalnetwork topology and an external network topology for the secondforwarding device within a preset range; and generate the internalnetwork topology and the external network topology for the secondforwarding device into a whole network topology for the secondforwarding device;

a routing path group determining unit, configured to determine therouting path group according to the whole network topology for thesecond forwarding device.

In combination with the third possible implementation manner of thethird aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner, the networktopology obtaining unit is specifically configured to,

obtain the external network topology for the second forwarding devicestored by itself;

or, receive the external network topology for the second forwardingdevice sent by the second forwarding device.

In combination with the fourth possible implementation manner of thethird aspect, in a fifth possible implementation manner, the networktopology obtaining unit is specifically configured to obtain theexternal network topology for the apparatus stored by itself through agraphic user interface GUI or a command line.

In a fourth aspect, an apparatus for controlling routing informationadvertising is provided, comprising:

a receiving unit, configured to receive second routing information sentby a control device; wherein the second routing information comprises anadvertising range of the second routing information; and the advertisingrange of the second routing information comprises an identifier of anexternal neighbor of the apparatus; and

a controlling unit, configured to control the advertising of the secondrouting information according to the advertising range of the secondrouting information transmitted by the receiving unit.

In combination with the fourth aspect, in a first possibleimplementation manner, the controlling unit is specifically configuredto advertise the second routing information to the external neighbor ofthe apparatus corresponding to the advertising range of the secondrouting information.

In combination with the fourth aspect or the first possibleimplementation manner of the fourth aspect, in a second possibleimplementation manner, the apparatus further comprising:

a sending unit, configured to send a network topology for the apparatusto the control device, for enabling the control device to generate thesecond routing information at least according to first routinginformation sent by a first forwarding device and the network topologyfor the apparatus.

In a fifth aspect, a system for controlling routing informationadvertising is provided, including the apparatus for advertising routinginformation as shown in the above-mentioned third aspect and/or theapparatus for advertising routing information as shown in theabove-mentioned fourth aspect.

According to the method, the apparatus and the system for controllingrouting information advertising provided by embodiments of the presentapplication, a control device determines a first routing path through anidentifier of a first forwarding device (an identifier of a sender ofthe routing information) and an identifier of a second forwarding device(an identifier of a receiver of the routing information), and determinesan advertising range of the routing information for the secondforwarding device according to the first routing path, and the secondforwarding device advertises the routing information according to theadvertising range of the routing information, such that advertising therouting information by the second forwarding device is centrallycontrolled at the control device side, the configuration complexity isreduced and the operability is reinforced. The problems of complicatedconfiguration and poor user operability caused by the fact that multiplerouters are required to cooperatively configure the path weight in theprior art are solved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a flow of a method for controllingrouting advertising provided by an embodiment of the presentapplication;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a flow of another method forcontrolling routing advertising provided by an embodiment of the presentapplication;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a flow of another method forcontrolling routing advertising provided by an embodiment of the presentapplication;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an AS architecture provided by anembodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a structure of an apparatus forcontrolling routing advertising provided by an embodiment of the presentapplication;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a structure of another apparatus forcontrolling routing advertising provided by an embodiment of the presentapplication;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a structure of another apparatus forcontrolling routing advertising provided by an embodiment of the presentapplication;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a structure of another apparatus forcontrolling routing advertising provided by an embodiment of the presentapplication;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a structure of another apparatus forcontrolling routing advertising provided by an embodiment of the presentapplication;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a structure of another apparatus forcontrolling routing advertising provided by an embodiment of the presentapplication;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a structure of another apparatus forcontrolling routing advertising provided by an embodiment of the presentapplication.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

An exemplary description of a method, an apparatus and a system forcontrolling routing advertising provided by embodiments of the presentapplication will be given below in combination with the accompanyingdrawings.

Referring to FIG. 1, it is a method for controlling routing advertisingprovided by an embodiment of the present application, including:

101: A control device receives first routing information sent by a firstforwarding device; wherein the first routing information includes anidentifier of the first forwarding device;

exemplarily, the method for controlling routing advertising provided bythe embodiment of the present application may be applied to an AS, andin the AS, routing information may be exchanged via a border gatewayprotocol (Border Gateway Protocol, referred to as BGP). One AS mayinclude one or multiple reflection routers and a plurality of routers(clients), the reflection router and the router in the AS may exchangethe routing information via an internal BGP (Internal BGP, referred toas IBGP), and the connection relationship thereof is called IBGPconnection; the router located at the periphery (edge) of the AS may becalled an edge router, the edge routers respectively belonging todifferent ASs may exchange the routing information via an external BGP(External BGP, referred to as EBGP), and the connection relationshipthereof is called EBGP connection.

The control device may be a reflection router in the AS, and may also beanother device with the function of the reflection router; the firstforwarding device may be an edge router in the AS to which the controldevice belongs;

102: A first routing path is determined according to the identifier ofthe first forwarding device, an identifier of a second forwarding deviceand a routing path group;

exemplarily, since the flow direction is opposite to the routingdirection, a path in an opposite direction of a flow path may be calleda routing path. The routing path group may include multiple routingpaths, the routing path is composed of identifiers of multiple nodeswithin a preset range, and the preset range may be preset in the controldevice.

Optionally, step 102 may include: selecting a routing path containingthe identifier of the first forwarding device and the identifier of thesecond forwarding device from the routing path group to serve as thefirst routing path.

Exemplarily, the routing path between two arbitrary nodes is obtainedaccording to a network topology and a preset rule, wherein the presetrule includes: the identifier of any other node excluding end nodes onlybelongs to one routing path, or the like, where the end nodes refer tonodes at both ends of one routing path.

According to the above-mentioned preset rule, one routing path may bematched in the routing path group by determining the identifiers of twonodes, namely, one routing path may be matched by selecting theidentifier of the first forwarding device and the identifier of thesecond forwarding device, and the routing path is taken as the firstrouting path.

Further optionally, the determining the routing path group according toa network topology within a preset range may further include:determining the routing path group according to the network topologywithin the preset range and a constraint condition, wherein theconstraint condition includes path length constraint or bandwidthconstraint.

Exemplarily, in the network topology, multiple routing paths may existbetween any two nodes, so that when determining the routing path betweentwo nodes according to the network topology, some constraint conditionsmay be added to obtain a routing path expected by the user. Optionally,the constraint conditions may include path length constraint orbandwidth constraint, etc. For example, the routing path with theshortest path between the two nodes may be obtained in the networktopology according to the path length constraint, or the routing pathwith the highest bandwidth between the two nodes is obtained in thenetwork topology according to the bandwidth constraint.

Multiple routing paths obtained in the network topology within thepreset range according to the constraint condition form the routing pathgroup. In this case, the first routing path matched in the routing pathgroup is the routing path between two certain nodes expected by theuser.

Further, prior to step 102, the method may further include:

1) obtaining an internal network topology and an external networktopology for the second forwarding device within a preset range;

2) generating the internal network topology and the external networktopology for the second forwarding device into a whole network topologyfor the second forwarding device; and

3) determining the routing path group according to the whole networktopology for the second forwarding device.

Exemplarily, the external network topology for the second forwardingdevice refers to the network topology formed by the second forwardingdevice and an external neighbor of the second forwarding device, wherethe external neighbor of the second forwarding device is the devicehaving an external neighbor relationship with the second forwardingdevice.

In an embodiment of the present application, the method for obtainingthe internal network topology and the external network topology for thesecond forwarding device within the preset range is not limited, forexample, the internal network topology may be gathered via an interiorgateway protocol (Interior Gateway Protocol, referred to as IGP), andthe external network topology for the second forwarding device may becollectively generated by user configuration and BGP routing, etc.

Optionally, the external network topology for the second forwardingdevice stored by itself is obtained; specifically, the external networktopology for the second forwarding device stored by itself is obtainedin such manners as a graphic user interface (Graphical User Interface,referred to as GUI) or a command line, etc.

Optionally, the external network topology for the second forwardingdevice sent by the second forwarding device is received.

103: An advertising range of the second routing information for thesecond forwarding device is determined according to the first routingpath; wherein the second routing information is routing informationgenerated by the control device according to the first routinginformation, the second forwarding device is a receiver of the secondrouting information advertised by the control device, and theadvertising range of the second routing information includes anidentifier of the external neighbor of the second forwarding device, forenabling the second forwarding device to advertise the second routinginformation according to the advertising range of the second routinginformation.

Exemplarily, after receiving the first routing information sent by thefirst forwarding device, the control device generates the first routinginformation into the second routing information and advertises thesecond routing information to other forwarding device in the AS to whichthe control device belongs. The second forwarding device may be an edgeforwarding device (an edge router) excluding the first forwarding devicein the AS to which the control device belongs.

The generating the first routing information into the second routinginformation may include changing the next hop and the like, and in anembodiment of the present application, the second routing informationmay further carry the advertising range of the second routinginformation for the second forwarding device. Wherein, the advertisingrange of the second routing information for the second forwarding deviceis used for indicating the second forwarding device to advertise thesecond routing information to an external neighbor corresponding to theadvertising range.

Optionally, step 103 may include: taking the identifier of the externalneighbor of the second forwarding device contained in the first routingpath as the advertising range of the second routing information for thesecond forwarding device.

Exemplarily, the second forwarding device may have more than oneexternal neighbor, and the identifier of the external neighbor in theadvertising range of the second routing information for the secondforwarding device is the identifier of the external neighbor of thesecond forwarding device contained in the first routing path. Specificreference may be made to the following embodiment.

According to the method for controlling routing information advertisingprovided by an embodiment of the present application, a control devicedetermines a first routing path through an identifier of a firstforwarding device (an identifier of a sender of the routing information)and an identifier of a second forwarding device (an identifier of areceiver of the routing information), and determines the advertisingrange of the routing information for the second forwarding deviceaccording to the first routing path, for enabling the second forwardingdevice to advertise the routing information according to the advertisingrange of the routing information, such that advertising the routinginformation by the second forwarding device is centrally controlled atthe control device side, the configuration complexity is reduced and theoperability is reinforced. The problems of complicated configuration andpoor user operability caused by the fact that multiple routers arerequired to cooperatively configure the path weight in the prior art aresolved.

Referring to FIG. 2, it is a method for controlling routing informationadvertising provided by an embodiment of the present application,including:

201: A second forwarding device receives second routing information sentby a control device, wherein the second routing information includes anadvertising range of the second routing information, and the advertisingrange of the second routing information includes an identifier of anexternal neighbor of the second forwarding device;

Further, prior to step 201, the method may further include:

sending a network topology for the second forwarding device to thecontrol device, for enabling the control device to generate the secondrouting information at least according to first routing information sentby a first forwarding device and the network topology for the secondforwarding device.

Exemplarily, the control device generates the second routing informationaccording to the network topology for the second forwarding device andthe first routing information, specifically, the control device receivesthe first routing information sent by the first forwarding device,changes a next hop in the first routing information and the like, andadds the advertising range to generate the second routing information.Wherein, the first forwarding device may be the same as the firstforwarding device in the above-mentioned embodiment. For the method ofthe control device for determining the advertising range of the secondrouting information, the above-mentioned embodiment may be referred, andit will not be repeated redundantly herein.

202: The advertising of the second routing information is controlledaccording to the advertising range of the second routing information.

Further, step 202 may include: advertising the second routinginformation to an external neighbor of the second forwarding devicecorresponding to the advertising range of the second routinginformation.

Exemplarily, identifiers of multiple external neighbors of the secondforwarding device may be stored in the second forwarding device, forexample, an external neighbor 1, an external neighbor 2 and an externalneighbor 3, the second routing information may be advertised by judgingwhether the identifier of a certain external neighbor is within theadvertising range of the second routing information, specifically, whenthe identifier of a certain external neighbor is contained in theadvertising range of the second routing information, the second routinginformation is advertised to the external neighbor, and on the contrary,the second routing information is not advertised to the externalneighbor, in order to control the routing information advertising of thesecond forwarding device from the control device side.

According to the method for controlling routing information advertisingprovided by an embodiment of the present application, a forwardingdevice receives routing information containing an advertising range sentby a control device, and advertises the routing information according tothe advertising range, so that advertising the routing information bythe forwarding device is centrally controlled at the control deviceside, the configuration complexity is reduced and the operability isreinforced. The problems of complicated configuration and poor useroperability caused by the fact that multiple routers are required tocooperatively configure the path weight in the prior art are solved.

Referring to FIG. 3, it is a method for controlling routing advertisingprovided by an embodiment of the present application, including:

301: A control device receives first routing information sent by a firstforwarding device; wherein the first routing information includes anidentifier of the first forwarding device;

exemplarily, an illustration is given in which the control device is areflection router.

Referring to FIG. 4, a preset range includes: AS0, AS1, AS2, AS3, theidentifier of the AS to which the reflection router belongs is the AS0,the AS0 includes the reflection router, a router 1, a router 2, . . . ,a router 5, and the router 1, the router 2, . . . , the router 5 are alledge routers; the edge devices of the AS1 are a router A1, a router B1and a router C1; the edge device of the AS2 is a router A2; the edgedevice of the AS3 is a router A3.

Assuming that the first forwarding device is a router 4.

302: The control device obtains an internal network topology within thepreset range;

exemplarily, the control device may gather the internal network topologyvia IGP.

Referring to FIG. 4, the internal network topology of the AS0 is 5 nodesand a connection relationship thereof, specifically, are the router 1,the router 2, . . . , the router 5, and for the connection relationshipof the five nodes may be referred to dotted line parts in FIG. 4.

303: The control device obtains an external network topology for thesecond forwarding device within the preset range;

exemplarily, the control device may collectively generate the externalnetwork topology via user configuration and BGP routing; or obtain theexternal network topology for the second forwarding device stored byitself in such manners as a GUI, a command line and the like; or receivethe external network topology for the second forwarding device sent bythe second forwarding device, etc.

Referring to FIG. 4, assuming that the second forwarding device is therouter 1, and the network neighbors of the router 1 within the presetrange are the router A1, the router B1 and the router C1, then theexternal network topology for the second forwarding device is: therouter 1, the router A1, the router B1, the router C1 and the connectionrelationship of the router 1 with the router A1, the router B1 and therouter C1.

304: the control device generates the internal network topology and theexternal network topology for the second forwarding device into a wholenetwork topology for the second forwarding device;

exemplarily, the whole network topology for the second forwarding deviceis: the router 1, the router 2, . . . , the router 5, and the connectionrelationship thereof; the router 1, the router A1, the router B1, therouter C1 and the connection relationship of the router 1 with therouter A1, the router B1 and the router C1.

305: The control device determines a routing path group according to thewhole network topology for the second forwarding device and a constraintcondition;

exemplarily, the constraint condition may be path length constraint orbandwidth constraint, etc.

Referring to FIG. 4, the determined routing path group includes:

a routing path 1: router A1-router 1-router 3-router 4-AS2;

a routing path 2: router A1-router 2-router 5-AS3.

306: The control device selects a routing path containing an identifierof the first forwarding device and an identifier of the secondforwarding device from the routing path group to serve as a firstrouting path;

exemplarily, the first routing path may be determined as the routingpath 1 according to the identifier of the first forwarding device (therouter 4) and the identifier of the second forwarding device (the router1).

307: The control device takes an identifier of an external neighbor ofthe second forwarding device contained in the first routing path as anadvertising range of second routing information for the secondforwarding device;

exemplarily, the identifier (A1) of the external neighbor of the secondforwarding device contained in the first routing path (the routingpath 1) is taken as the advertising range of the second routinginformation for the second forwarding device.

308: The control device generates the second routing informationaccording to the first routing information and the advertising range ofthe second routing information for the second forwarding device;

exemplarily, the control device changes a next hop and the like of thefirst routing information to generate the second routing information,and the second routing information carries the advertising range of thesecond routing information.

309: The control device sends the second routing information to thesecond forwarding device;

310: The second forwarding device obtains the identifier of the externalneighbor thereof;

exemplarily, the identifier of the external neighbor of the secondforwarding device includes: the router A1, the router B1 and the routerC1.

311: The second forwarding device judges whether the identifier of oneexternal neighbor is within the advertising range of the second routinginformation;

exemplarily, the second forwarding device (the router 1) mayrespectively judge whether the router A1, the router B1 and the routerC1 are within the advertising range of the second routing information.The judging result is as follows: the router A1 is within theadvertising range of the second routing information; the router B1 andthe router C1 are not within the advertising range of the second routinginformation.

312: If so, the second routing information is advertised to the externalneighbor; if not, the second routing information is not advertised tothe external neighbor.

Exemplarily, the router 1 advertises the second routing information tothe router A1 and does not advertise the second routing information tothe router B1 and the router C1.

According to the method for controlling routing information advertisingprovided by an embodiment of the present application, a control devicedetermines a first routing path through an identifier of a firstforwarding device (an identifier of a sender of the routing information)and an identifier of a second forwarding device (an identifier of areceiver of the routing information), and determines an advertisingrange of the routing information for the second forwarding deviceaccording to the first routing path, and the second forwarding deviceadvertises the routing information according to the advertising range ofthe routing information, such that advertising the routing informationby the second forwarding device is centrally controlled at the controldevice side, the configuration complexity is reduced and the operabilityis reinforced. The problems of complicated configuration and poor useroperability caused by the fact that multiple routers are required tocooperatively configure the path weight in the prior art are solved.

On one hand, referring to FIG. 5, it is an apparatus 50 for controllingrouting information advertising provided by an embodiment of the presentapplication, used for implementing the method for controlling routinginformation advertising as shown in FIG. 1, including:

a receiving unit 501, configured to receive first routing informationsent by a first forwarding device; wherein the first routing informationincludes an identifier of the first forwarding device;

a routing path determining unit 502, configured to determine a firstrouting path according to the identifier of the first forwarding devicetransmitted by the receiving unit 501, an identifier of a secondforwarding device and a routing path group; and

an advertising range determining unit 503, configured to determine anadvertising range of second routing information for the secondforwarding device according to the first routing path transmitted by therouting path determining unit 502, wherein the second routinginformation is routing information generated by the apparatus 50according to the first routing information, the second forwarding deviceis a receiver of the second routing information advertised by theapparatus 50, and the advertising range of the second routinginformation includes an identifier of an external neighbor of the secondforwarding device, for enabling the second forwarding device toadvertise the second routing information according to the advertisingrange of the second routing information.

Further, the advertising range determining unit 503 may be specificallyconfigured to take the identifier of the external neighbor of the secondforwarding device contained in the first routing path as the advertisingrange of the second routing information for the second forwardingdevice.

Further, the routing path determining unit 502 may be specificallyconfigured to select a routing path containing the identifier of thefirst forwarding device and the identifier of the second forwardingdevice from the routing path group to serve as the first routing path.

Further, referring to FIG. 6, the apparatus 50 may further include:

a network topology obtaining unit 504, configured to obtain an internalnetwork topology and an external network topology for the secondforwarding device within a preset range, and generate the internalnetwork topology and the external network topology for the secondforwarding device into a whole network topology for the secondforwarding device;

a routing path group determining unit 505, configured to determine therouting path group according to the whole network topology for thesecond forwarding device.

Optionally, the network topology obtaining unit 504 may be specificallyconfigured to,

obtain the external network topology for the second forwarding devicestored by itself;

or, receive the external network topology for the second forwardingdevice sent by the second forwarding device.

Optionally, the network topology obtaining unit 504 may be specificallyconfigured to obtain the external network topology for the apparatusstored by itself through a graphic user interface GUI or a command line.

Exemplarily, the apparatus 50 may be the control device in theabove-mentioned method embodiment.

According to the apparatus for controlling routing informationadvertising provided by an embodiment of the present application, afirst routing path is determined through an identifier of a firstforwarding device (an identifier of a sender of the routing information)and an identifier of a second forwarding device (an identifier of areceiver of the routing information), and an advertising range of therouting information for the second forwarding device is determinedaccording to the first routing path, for enabling the second forwardingdevice to advertise the routing information according to the advertisingrange of the routing information, so that advertising the routinginformation by the second forwarding device is centrally controlled atthe control device side, the configuration complexity is reduced and theoperability is reinforced. The problems of complicated configuration andpoor user operability caused by the fact that multiple routers arerequired to cooperatively configure the path weight in the prior art aresolved.

On one hand, referring to FIG. 7, it is an apparatus 50 for controllingrouting information advertising provided by an embodiment of the presentapplication, used for implementing the method for controlling routinginformation advertising as shown in FIG. 1, including: a receiver 701, amemory 702 and a processor 703 connected with the receiver 701 and thememory 702 respectively, wherein,

the receiver 701 is configured to receive first routing information sentby a first forwarding device, wherein the first routing informationincludes an identifier of the first forwarding device;

the memory 702 is configured to store a group of codes, wherein thecodes are used for controlling the processor 703 to implement thefollowing actions:

determining a first routing path according to the identifier of thefirst forwarding device, an identifier of a second forwarding device anda routing path group; and

determining an advertising range of second routing information for thesecond forwarding device according to the first routing path, whereinthe second routing information is routing information generated by thecontrol device according to the first routing information, the secondforwarding device is a receiver of the second routing informationadvertised by the control device, and the advertising range of thesecond routing information includes an identifier of an externalneighbor of the second forwarding device, for enabling the secondforwarding device to advertise the second routing information accordingto the advertising range of the second routing information.

Further, the processor 703 may be specifically configured to take theidentifier of the external neighbor of the second forwarding devicecontained in the first routing path as the advertising range of thesecond routing information for the second forwarding device.

Further, the processor 703 may be specifically configured to select arouting path containing the identifier of the first forwarding deviceand the identifier of the second forwarding device from the routing pathgroup to serve as the first routing path.

Further, the processor 703 may be further configured to obtain aninternal network topology and an external network topology for thesecond forwarding device within a preset range;

generate the internal network topology and the external network topologyfor the second forwarding device into a whole network topology for thesecond forwarding device; and

determine the routing path group according to the whole network topologyfor the second forwarding device.

Optionally, the processor 703 may be specifically configured to obtainthe external network topology for the second forwarding device stored byitself;

or, receive the external network topology for the second forwardingdevice sent by the second forwarding device.

Optionally, the processor 703 may be specifically configured to obtainthe external network topology for the second forwarding device stored byitself through a graphic user interface GUI or a command line.

Exemplarily, the apparatus 50 may be the control device in theabove-mentioned method embodiment.

According to the apparatus for controlling routing informationadvertising provided by an embodiment of the present application, afirst routing path is determined through an identifier of a firstforwarding device (an identifier of a sender of the routing information)and an identifier of a second forwarding device (an identifier of areceiver of the routing information), and an advertising range of therouting information for the second forwarding device is determinedaccording to the first routing path, for enabling the second forwardingdevice to advertise the routing information according to the advertisingrange of the routing information, so that advertising the routinginformation by the second forwarding device is centrally controlled atthe control device side, the configuration complexity is reduced and theoperability is reinforced. The problems of complicated configuration andpoor user operability caused by the fact that multiple routers arerequired to cooperatively configure the path weight in the prior art aresolved.

On one hand, referring to FIG. 8, it is an apparatus 80 for controllingrouting information advertising provided by an embodiment of the presentapplication, used for implementing the method for controlling routinginformation advertising as shown in FIG. 2, including:

a receiving unit 801, configured to receive second routing informationsent by a control device, wherein the second routing informationincludes an advertising range of the second routing information, and theadvertising range of the second routing information includes anidentifier of an external neighbor of the apparatus; and

a controlling unit 802, configured to control the advertising of thesecond routing information according to the advertising range of thesecond routing information transmitted by the receiving unit 801.

Further, the controlling unit 802 may be specifically configured toadvertise the second routing information to the external neighbor of theapparatus corresponding to the advertising range of the second routinginformation.

Further, referring to FIG. 9, the apparatus 80 may further include:

a sending unit 803, configured to send a network topology for theapparatus to the control device, for enabling the control device togenerate the second routing information at least according to firstrouting information sent by a first forwarding device and the networktopology for the apparatus.

Exemplarily, the apparatus 80 may be the second forwarding device in theabove-mentioned method embodiment.

According to the apparatus for controlling routing informationadvertising provided by an embodiment of the present application, byreceiving routing information containing an advertising range sent by acontrol device and by advertising the routing information according tothe advertising range, so that advertising the routing information by aforwarding device is centrally controlled at the control device side,the configuration complexity is reduced and the operability isreinforced. The problems of complicated configuration and poor useroperability caused by the fact that multiple routers are required tocooperatively configure the path weight in the prior art are solved.

On one hand, referring to FIG. 10, it is an apparatus 80 for controllingrouting information advertising provided by an embodiment of the presentapplication, used for implementing the method for controlling routinginformation advertising as shown in FIG. 2, including: a receiver 1001,a memory 1002 and a processor 1003 connected with the receiver 1001 andthe memory 1002 respectively, wherein,

the receiver 1001 is configured to receive second routing informationsent by a control device, wherein the second routing informationincludes an advertising range of the second routing information, and theadvertising range of the second routing information includes anidentifier of an external neighbor of the apparatus 80; and

is configured to control the advertising of the second routinginformation according to the advertising range of the second routinginformation.

the memory 1002 is configured to store a group of codes, wherein thecodes are used for controlling the processor 1003 to implement thefollowing actions:

advertising the second routing information to the external neighbor ofthe apparatus corresponding to the advertising range of the secondrouting information.

Further, referring to FIG. 11, the apparatus 80 may further include asender 1004, configured to send a network topology for the apparatus 80to the control device, for enabling the control device to generate thesecond routing information at least according to first routinginformation sent by a first forwarding device and the network topologyfor the apparatus.

Exemplarily, the apparatus 80 may be the second forwarding device in theabove-mentioned method embodiment.

According to the apparatus for controlling routing informationadvertising provided by an embodiment of the present application, byreceiving routing information containing an advertising range sent by acontrol device and by advertising the routing information according tothe advertising range, so that advertising the routing information by aforwarding device is centrally controlled at the control device side,the configuration complexity is reduced and the operability isreinforced. The problems of complicated configuration and poor useroperability caused by the fact that multiple routers are required tocooperatively configure the path weight in the prior art are solved.

In addition, an embodiment of the present application further provides asystem for controlling routing information advertising, including anyone of the above-mentioned apparatus 50 for controlling routinginformation advertising and/or any one of the above-mentioned apparatus80 for controlling routing information advertising.

The foregoing descriptions are merely specific embodiments of thepresent application, rather than limiting the protection scope of thepresent application. Any skilled one who is familiar with this art couldreadily think of variations or substitutions within the disclosedtechnical scope of the present application, and these variations orsubstitutions shall fall within the protection scope of the presentapplication. Accordingly, the protection scope of the claims shouldprevail over the protection scope of the present application.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus, comprising: a non-transitory memorystoring instructions; and a processor communicably coupled to thenon-transitory memory; wherein the instructions, when executed by theprocessor, cause the apparatus to perform: receiving first routinginformation, wherein the first routing information comprises anidentifier of a first forwarding device; determining a first routingpath according to the identifier of the first forwarding device and anidentifier of a second forwarding device; and determining an advertisingrange of second routing information for the second forwarding deviceaccording to the first routing path; sending the second routinginformation to the second forwarding device; wherein the second routinginformation is generated according to the first routing information, thesecond forwarding device is a receiver of the second routinginformation, and the advertising range of the second routing informationcomprises an identifier of an external neighbor of the second forwardingdevice and the advertising range of the second routing information isused to enable the second forwarding device to advertise the secondrouting information according to the advertising range of the secondrouting information.
 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, where theadvertising range of the second routing information for the secondforwarding device comprises the identifier of the external neighbor ofthe second forwarding device.
 3. The apparatus according to claim 1,where the first routing path comprises the identifier of the firstforwarding device and the identifier of the second forwarding device. 4.The apparatus according to claim 3, where the first routing pathcomprises a shortest path, wherein the shortest path between theidentifier of the first forwarding device and the identifier of thesecond forwarding device is obtained according to path lengthconstraint.
 5. The apparatus according to claim 3, where the firstrouting path comprises a highest bandwidth path, wherein the highestbandwidth path between the identifier of the first forwarding device andthe identifier of the second forwarding device is obtained according tobandwidth constraint.
 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theinstructions, when executed by the processor, further cause theapparatus to perform: obtaining an internal network topology and anexternal network topology for the second forwarding device within apreset range; and generating a whole network topology for the secondforwarding device according to the internal network topology and theexternal network topology for the second forwarding device.
 7. Theapparatus according to claim 6, wherein the instructions, when executedby the processor, further cause the apparatus to perform: receiving theexternal network topology for the second forwarding device from thesecond forwarding device.
 8. The apparatus according to claim 6, whereinthe instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause theapparatus to perform: obtaining the external network topology for theforwarding device from the apparatus through one of: a graphic userinterface (GUI) or a command line by receiving user input.
 9. Anapparatus, comprising: a non-transitory memory storing instructions; anda processor communicably coupled to the non-transitory memory; whereinthe instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus toperform: receiving routing information, where the routing informationcomprises an advertising range of the routing information; and theadvertising range of the routing information comprises an identifier ofan external neighbor of the apparatus; and advertising the routinginformation according to the advertising range of the routinginformation.
 10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein theinstructions, when executed by the processor, further cause theapparatus to perform: sending a network topology for the apparatus to acontrol device, for enabling the control device to generate the secondrouting information based on first routing information from a firstforwarding device and the network topology for the apparatus.
 11. Amethod, comprising: receiving, by a control device, first routinginformation, wherein the first routing information comprises anidentifier of a first forwarding device; determining, by a controldevice, a first routing path according to the identifier of the firstforwarding device and an identifier of a second forwarding device; anddetermining, by a control device, an advertising range of second routinginformation for the second forwarding device according to the firstrouting path; sending, by a control device, the second routinginformation to the second forwarding device; wherein the second routinginformation is generated according to the first routing information, thesecond forwarding device is a receiver of the second routinginformation, and the advertising range of the second routing informationcomprises an identifier of an external neighbor of the second forwardingdevice and the advertising range of the second routing information isused to enable the second forwarding device to advertise the secondrouting information according to the advertising range of the secondrouting information.
 12. The method according to claim 11, where theadvertising range of the second routing information for the secondforwarding device comprises the identifier of the external neighbor ofthe second forwarding device.
 13. The method according to claim 12,where the first routing path comprises the identifier of the firstforwarding device and the identifier of the second forwarding device.14. The method according to claim 13, where the first routing pathcomprises a shortest path, wherein the shortest path between theidentifier of the first forwarding device and the identifier of thesecond forwarding device is obtained according to path lengthconstraint.
 15. The method according to claim 13, where the firstrouting path comprises a highest bandwidth path, wherein the highestbandwidth path between the identifier of the first forwarding device andthe identifier of the second forwarding device is obtained according tobandwidth constraint.
 16. The method according to claim 11, whereinbefore the determining a first routing path according to the identifierof the first forwarding device and an identifier of a second forwardingdevice, the method further comprises: obtaining, by a control device, aninternal network topology and an external network topology for thesecond forwarding device within a preset range; and generating, by acontrol device, a whole network topology for the second forwardingdevice according to the internal network topology and the externalnetwork topology for the second forwarding device.
 17. The methodaccording to claim 16, wherein the obtaining an external networktopology for the second forwarding device within a preset range,comprises: receiving, by a control device, the external network topologyfor the second forwarding device from the second forwarding device. 18.The method according to claim 16, wherein the obtaining an externalnetwork topology for the second forwarding device within a preset range,comprises: obtaining, by a control device, the external network topologyfor the forwarding device through one of: a graphic user interface (GUI)or a command line by receiving user input.